


Falling Down-Linda in the Ink Machine

by VoguishThrone58



Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-20
Updated: 2020-04-12
Packaged: 2021-02-16 01:55:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21499921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VoguishThrone58/pseuds/VoguishThrone58
Summary: Henry had gone to the studio and lost everything. His wife Linda became concerned that he's been gone for about a month, so she goes to the studio. She finds Henry, but... Henry's been turned into a tiny searcher.
Relationships: Henry Stein/Linda Stein
Comments: 6
Kudos: 22





	1. The Beginning

“Alright, Joey, I’m here. Let’s see if I can find out what you wanted me to see.”

Henry’s tongue felt like cotton as he spoke. Joey had stolen  _ everything _ from him- his  _ family _ , his _ life _ , his  _ real body _ , his fucking  _ voice _ . He was stuck, going over and over again, through hell. He especially hated when he went to Joey’s apartment. Oh how he wanted to punch his wrinkled face, but no… Henry couldn’t even do that. 

Let’s just get this over with.

\-----------------------------------------------

“Ah! Who put this here?” Henry felt the words slip out of his lips. He couldn’t really feel much emotion anymore. Joey was mocking him, he could feel it. 

Henry desperately missed his wife and children. How long had it been since he last seen them? Had he missed his son’s 16th birthday? He’d promised Danny he’d take him out to that… new restaurant that had opened. It’d been so long he didn’t even remember the name of the restaurant. He missed them so much… A memory flooded over him before he could stop it.

‘ _ Daddy, Daddy!!’ his daughter, Rebecca, held up her Alice Angel plushie. ‘I fixed her by myself!’ _

_ Henry chuckled as he turned away from his drawing desk and to his daughter. ‘Well done, Bec.’ He examined the stitches she obviously did herself. She had taken some bright purple embroidery thread from Linda’s sewing kit and did pretty well stitching the split seam closed, especially considering she was only 4. _

_ ‘Mommy helped me thread the needle!’ She was beaming. _

_ ‘Well this is very well done,’ Henry loved to sing his adopted daughter’s praise whenever he could. ‘You’ve gotten really good at sewing.’ _

_ Bec crawled onto Henry’s lap and hugged him. _

Henry jerked awake, unaware he had practically slipped asleep standing straight in front of the cut-out. He silently groaned as he rubbed his forehead. That… that had happened over ten years ago. Why… why did he think of that now? Whatever, he just had to push forward. He just had to escape.

\----------------------------------------------------

Henry felt a terrible, painful throb in the back of his head as he regained consciousness. Sammy had already started his monologue, but Henry already heard it over 400 times. He really had lost track, but it felt like years since he’d last seen the sun, or had some decent food. That bacon soup had gone bad a long time ago, and even the faint memory of Linda’s cooking made his knees weak and his mouth water. What he wouldn’t give to see her again, to have some of her pie…

Sammy left to the other room, and Henry felt himself struggle against the ropes. He was on autopilot at this point, like a toon in an episode, not truly free. He just wanted to go home.

Hendy paused when he broke the ropes. Why did he even try anymore? Why move on?

He shook his head as he grabbed the axe. He turned to the door, musing with an idea before going over to the door and pressing a palm against it. He readied the axe and swung it at the door. It hit without breaking through, like almost every door or wall in this fucking place. Not that Henry really expected anything to come from it, but it didn’t hurt to try. Poor Sammy was already dead at this point, nothing he could do would save the old music director.

He hated the stupid taunts Joey left him. Every layer had an exit that he could never get through. He lost hope long ago that one of them would finally open up and he’d get to see his wife again. Oh Linda… How he missed her.

The ink splashed against his foot as Bendy jumped up from the ink. He turned tail and ran. No matter how many times he did this song and dance, his heart still skipped a beat and adrenaline pumped through his veins. He just had to make it to the elevator, and he was so close, there was the door-!

Henry let out a silent yelp as he tripped and fell to the floor. He tasted blood and felt some drip from his now broken nose. He wiped at his nose as he struggled to get to his feet. He turned back and saw the monster standing before him. No no no no no, please, the door was right there-

Bendy’s cold hands gripped his throat as Henry was hoised into the air. The air was pushed out of his lungs as Bendy threw him against the wall. Henry silently said a prayer as Bendy shoved him against the floor and started squeezing. He gasped as Bendy released him only to pung his monstrously skeletal hand into his chest. 

\-------------------------------------------

_ He failed again. _

_ I just want to go home! _

_ Please help us… _

_ Be quiet! _ Henry tried to shout.  _ I can’t win! I’ve tried! Leave me be! _

His head ached and felt like it was stuffed full of cotton. He didn’t see any light, he was trapped in the ink this time. Please, Joey, let him out! 

He felt something cold against his face as something pulled him out of the ink. He heard a shriek as his vision came back. Someone kicked into the wall.

“What the hell are you?!” He recognized Linda’s voice. Relief flooded his senses before a firm sense of panic. He knew Linda would kill him without hesitation if she didn’t know it was him, and he was… a tiny searcher now. Shit.

Henry glanced around and saw an empty space on the wall. He quickly scrawled on the wall  **I’M HENRY!**

“Wh-What?!” Linda stammered, holding up her heel like a weapon, ready to smash his skull in. “Wh-What… what day is our anniversary? Th-The… The dating one, not our wedding...”

He froze for a moment. Of course she’d ask that one. Why’d it have to be that one? Almost nobody remembered that…  **12-31** he wrote, hoping it was the right one. Please please please let that be the right one.

Linda’s hand shook as she dropped her heel. She knelt down by him and picked him up, making him feel self-conscious about how small he had become. She sobbed as she hugged him close. “Oh Henny!” she cried. “Henny, what happened? What happened to you?!” 

He tried to make a noise, desperation rising in his throat. She was holding him too close to write anything, if there was any space on even left on the wall. Please let him speak to her, Joey, just this once… please… 

“C-Can you not speak?” Linda asked as she pulled him away so he could look at her face to face. “Are… d-did Joey do this to you?”

He nodded, inky tears falling from his eyes. There was a lump in his throat he tried to release, but it stayed lodged painfully.

“Oh Henny… Henny, I…” she wiped at the tears in her eyes, smudging ink under her eyes. “I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…”

He tried to tell her it wasn’t her fault, it was never her fault, he was the one who decided to return to this damn studio. He was the one who trusted Joey. It was never her fault…

“Henny… Oh Henny… I will get you out of here…” Linda promised. Henry tried to cry out, to talk to her, bit of course… of course he couldn’t. All he could do was sob silently into his wife.

`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````


	2. Separation

**Splat!**

Linda cut through the last of the searchers. Running through this hell-hole really was more dangerous than she thought. Wiping the sweat from her forehead, she noticed with panic that Henry wasn’t on her shoulder. Oh sh-

“Henry?!” Linda’s voice rose with panic as she turned around. Oh sh… there was so much ink, how would she find him?! “Henny!?! Where are you?!”

She froze when she heard a low growl from behind her. Slowly she turned and saw a searcher, dripping ink, his left arm larger that the right, his left leg gloppier, the mouth was basically ripped open with the jagged teeth, ink dripping through some of the gaps, and the flecks of green that were his eyes now were red. Oh no…

“H-Henny?” Linda took a step backwards as the creature stepped forward. “H-Henny, i-is that you?”

She yelped as it reached out to grab her, stumbling back out of its reach. She ran through the inky hall, her bandage-wrapped feet slipping slightly. She could out-run and outlast. Her shoulder slammed into the wall as she tried to make a sharp turn. She cried out in pain as she lost her footing and slammed painfully into the ground. She turned back to look, her breaths coming in wheezy gasps.

The creature grabbed her foot, not letting her get up. The creature let out a low growl, its already low jaw falling down to its chest. 

“H-Henny! Henny, s-stop!” Linda cried. “Henny! I-It’s me! It’s Linda!”

An almost whine came from the creature. It moved its face closer to hers, it climbing over her body, almost crushing her, and the strong stench of ink made her nauseous. 

“H-Henny?” Linda reached out to touch the creature’s face. She screamed when it bit into her arm at her elbow. Her arm was burning right around where the creature still had its jaw locked on her. The half under the bite was already numb. She whacked and slapped the creature, screaming and crying. “HENNY!” She screamed through tears. “SNAP OUT OF IT!”

The creature suddenly released her, letting her fall to the floor.She gasped as she gripped the bite mark, realizing with horror that her arm was bitten off. She couldn’t look anywhere but at the floor, the pain overwhelming her.

A gargled, distressed noise came from the creature as it moved backwards, off of her. 

“H-H-Henny…” Linda looked up, tears streaming down her face. “H-Henny, d-don’t-”

It let out a noise and started running away, leaving Linda alone.

“H-Henny!” Linda called, struggling to get to her feet. “W-Wait!”

`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

He hurt her, he hurt  _ her _ !

It hurts. Everything hurts. It’s his fault, it’s all his fault!

Make it stop make it stop make it stop!

This has to be a dream, this  _ has _ to be! He… He couldn’t’ve… couldn’t’ve actually  _ hurt _ her… could… could he have?

Get away get away get away get away!

“Henny!” Linda’s voice echoed behind him, but he didn’t slow down. “Henny, wait! I-I can’t do this alone!”

Henry didn’t slow down. He hurt her, he had to get away, make it stop!

His head was pounding, stuffed with cotton. He had to leave, she wasn’t safe with him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“H-Henny!” Linda called, leaning against the wall for support. She couldn’t keep pushing. She’d tried to tie off the wound with a ripped part of her skirt, but she was already feeling the effects of bloodloss. “H… Henny!” Oh how weak and dizzy she felt. “H… Henny…”

Someone grabbed Linda’s arm. She screamed and thrashed against the person, trying to escape.

“Woah woah woah, calm down, calm down,” the woman who grabbed her said. “Calm down, it’s okay, I’m not going hurt you.”

“Wh-who… who are you..?” Linda croaked, turning to see an Alice Angel.

“They call me Alice, but I’m no angel,” the Alice said gently. “I get it, you’re scared, but we need to get that wrapped up before you die. I can help you, okay? You just need to be calm.”

Linda took a shaky breath as Alice started guiding her to somewhere. She stumbled and fell against Alice, blacking out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Linda groaned sluggishly as she woke up. She slowly sat up, realizing her stump was wrapped, although it still burned.

“H-Hello?” Linda asked, glancing around.

“Don’t worry, you’re safe,” Alice said, sitting down on the edge of the cot Linda was on. “Do you… you were looking for someone, weren’t you? Henny, was it?”

“M-My husband, Henry, h-he’s… he’s lost,” Linda said. “I need to find him…”

“We’ll find him, I promise,” Alice said. “If… If you don’t mind me asking, what is your name?”

“L-Linda. Linda Stein,” Linda answered. “It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

“Likewise,” Alice said with a smile.


	3. Alone

Henry couldn’t keep this hulking form for long. It just so happened that this form gave out at the worst time. Now he was trapped in a crate with no way out. Not that he really  _ wanted _ to get out. He didn’t want to hurt Linda again. Maybe it was best he was stuck here.

“ **Hen… ry…** ” A raspy voice echoed through the halls. “ **Hen… ry… wh...ere… are… you..?** ”

Henry curled in on himself. He was so small and alone, why couldn’t it stop? Why couldn’t it all stop? Why could he go home?!

“ **Hen… ry...** ” the creature’s footsteps sounded loud right outside the crate. Henry’s ink pulsated to a heartbeat. Henry grit his teeth, trying to stop or dull the pain going through him.

Stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it! Make. it. Stop!

“ **Hen… ry… I… will… find… you…** ” 

Henry felt inky tears slip down his face. It hurt, it really hurt… Where’s Linda?!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Linda rubbed the bandaged stump of her arm idly. Alice insisted she stay in their safehouse for a while. She anxiously wanted to find her husband, but… Well, hopefully Alice could find her a mechanical arm like Tom. 

“Hey, Tom, how’d you lose your arm?” Linda asked, fingering with her bandage.

Tom only grunted. Not much of a talker, huh.

“If you don’t really want to talk about it, I get it. I mean,” Linda held up her own stump. “Although I’m here if you want to talk.”

Tom grunted again. Jeesh, grumpy huh? Hopefully she’ll be able to go find Henry soon. Gosh did she miss him...

`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

Henry had managed to squeeze through a small hole in the box. He felt almost numb but for this need to get back to Linda. Why did he run away from her in the first place? Where… where was she?

Why did it hurt so much? He wants to find her… he  _ had _ to find Linda!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Linda had taken to drawing on the wall. She’d seen Alice draw up a bunch of stuff, and it was something to keep her mind off of… everything that was going wrong. She’d tried to draw Henry, but it didn’t really look like him. She decided try to draw Bendy. 

She wasn’t very good at art, but you could tell it was Bendy. She smirked and glanced at Tom. She started to draw him.

“Hey Tom, look!” Linda said when she finished. Tom looked up and his expression turned angrier. He growled slightly.

Honestly, did he have to be so grumpy? Really. It wouldn’t kill him to smile, would it?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_ I can find her _ , Henry thought as he carefully avoided all ink puddles.  _ I just have to be careful. I can’t… I can’t lose myself like that again. _

The only sounds were the dull hum of the machine and the dripping of ink.

He’d messed up big time. Hopefully Linda wouldn’t be  _ too _ mad with him. Did he really  _ bite her arm off _ ? Oh god… please let her not be too mad…

````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

“I’m not  _ helpless _ !” Linda protested as Alice tried to convince her to stay behind while Tom and her went out. “I can fight too!”

“You only have one and a half arms!” Alice replied, still trying to push Linda back into the room. 

“One and three quarters!” Linda corrected. “And I can fight one-handed!”

Alice let out a small breath before swinging her fist at Linda suddenly. 

Linda couldn’t block and stumbled back as she cupped her nose. Alice took this chance and slammed closed the door. Linda let out an annoyed sigh as she leaned against the door.

“I can fight too…” she grumbled, walking back to the wall she had been painting. She had taken to painting how she had perceived her journey so far: the floor gave out almost immediately when she stepped in, finding her Henny as that… thing, that tiny searcher, losing her arm to the monster her Henny became, Alice finding her.

She picked up her brush. “Alright… what to paint?” Linda wondered out loud. There really wasn’t anything of her journey so far that wasn’t painted. She  _ could _ paint in what just happened, but… Linda didn’t really want to paint that. Maybe she could paint Henry? But she doesn’t really know how to draw him from before the studio. Maybe not painting right now…

Linda sighed. “Hopefully they’ll bring me back some paper…” she grumbled.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That...  _ thing  _ was closing in on Henry. He was pulsing painfully, practically paralized. Go away go away go away go away-

The monster let out a raspy laugh, almost as if it could feel his pain and was  _ delighted _ in it. 

Go AWAY! 

_ please… _

_ just leave me alone... _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyyyy it's been a while since I updated '^^. Sorry. I've had this in my drafts for a while, so here it is! Anywho, stay safe everyone!


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